Tie-loading machine.



W. A. FLOWERS.

TIE LOADING MACHINE. APPLlcAUoN FILED APR. 1. 1916.

192129117. Patented .131116,1917.

2 SHEETS-SHEET I.

' l atroz/www5.

W. A. FLOWERS.

TIE LOADING MACHINE.

APPLlCATlON FILED APR. i 1916. lll., Patented 53.21.16,@17'.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

WALTER A. FLOWERS, 0F RIVERSIDE, TENNESSEE.

TIE-LOADING MACHINE.

To all whom t may concern Be it known that I, WALTER A. FLOWERS, a citizen of the United States,I residin at Riverside, in the county of Lewis and tate of Tennessee, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Tie-Loading Machines, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to new and useful improvements in tie loading machines, the primary lob'ect of my invention being the provision o a power driven mechanism for loading cross ties upon coal cars.

A further object of my invention consists in providing a mechanism of the above described type in which the ties are drawn upwardly along an inclined skidway, one end of which detachably engages the wall of the coal car and the other end of which rests upon the ground or other suitable support placed thereon, the ties being drawn along the skidway by an endless conveyer driven by an internal combustion engine or other suitable source of power.

A still further object of my invention is to provide a hanging support for the internal combustion engine and drive gears thereof which may be detachably secured to the wall of the car in order that the engine may, under all circumstances, be located at a predetermined point with 'respect to the drive shaft of the conveyer chain, irrespective vof the inclination of the skidway.

A still further object of my invention consists in bracing the skidway and in providing the upper face of the frame or skid v members with grooves or channels to seat kthe stretches of the conveyer chain in order that the wear of the moving ties shall be taken up by the skidway itself and not by the chains.

With these and other objects in view2 -my invention will be more fully described,

illustrated in the accompanying drawings,

and then specically pointed out in the claims 'which are attached to and form a part of/fhis application.

In/the drawings, Figure 1 is a side elevation of my improved tie loading machine in operation, a portion of a conventional coal car beingshown in transverse section; Fig. 2 is a top plan view of the mechanism shown in Fig.' 1; Fig. 3 is a front elevation of the mechanism; Fig. 4 is a fragmentary perspective view, showing the means for .trans- Speeication of Letters Patent. i

Patented Jan. 16, 1917.

Application filed April'l, 191e. Serial No. 88,351. f

mitting power from the internal combustion engine `to the drive shaft of the conveyer mechanism; Fig. 5 is an enlarged transverse sectlonal view through one of the skids or frame members of the skidway, showing the protectivestrip of metal covering the upper endless conveyer mechanism 11 andin a' hanging support 12 for an internal combustion engine 13 which serves to drive the conveyer mechanism. For the sake of clearness, I have illustrated my invention in connection with a conventional coal car having a bottom or platform 14 and side walls 15.

The skidway 10 includes spaced parallel side frame members or skids 16, preferably formed of wood and of any desired length. These side members 16 are held in proper spaced relation at suitable intervals by transverse brace bars 17 and are held against spreading movement by tie bolts 18 having clamping nuts 19, the tie bolts being preferably disposed immediately adjacent the braces 17 in order to avoid any possible lspringing or bowing of the side members toven l side members of the skidway at their upper and lower ends are supporting blocks 21 and 22, respectively, the former of which are adapted to rest against the upper edge of a car wall when the skidway is in use and the latter to rest upon either the ground or a suitable support, such as a tie 23. These blocks are secured to the side members by bolts 24 or other suitable fastening means and certain of these bolts pass through eyes 25 formed in the outer ends of rods 26, these ends of the rods being seated in recesses formed in the inner faces of the blocks. The free ends of these rods are threaded to engage and coperate with the yoke of a turn buckle device 27, their intermediate ortions assing through the sleeves 2 8 o spacer rackets 29 secured tothe side members of the skidway, whereby the rods and turn buckles constitute trusses 30. The bolts 24, securing the blocks 2l to the side members of the skidway, also pass through lengths of strap metal 3l,`the intermediate portions of which are looped downwardly, as shown, to provide stops 32 to engage the outer face of a car wall and the ends of which are down bent to provide hooks 33 engaging the inner face of the car wall. ln use, the skidway is supported in the manner shown in Fig. 1, the hooks and stops serving ,to hold4 the skid- Way in place irrespective of: its inclination to the groun Secured to the outer faces of the side members of the 4skidways and in transverse alinement with each other arel bearings 34 which journal transverse shafts 35 and 36.

'lhe shaft 35 carries sprocket wheels 37 which extend slightly peripherally above the upper faces of the side members of the skidway, the side members being slotted, as shown at 38, to receive these sprocket wheels. ln like manner, the shaft 36 carries similar sprocket wheels 39 .which extend through slots 40 formed in the side members of the skidway. The upper faces of the side members'16 are formed with longitudinal grooves 41 and wear strips 42, of metal, are secured to the side-members 16 to form bearing surfaces over which ties being loaded may pass,

these strips being depressed longitudinally lto fit within thegrooves 41. 'Sprocket chains 43 are trained about the sprocket wheels 37 and 39 with their upper stretches disposed within the grooves 41 of the side members 16 and these chains, at suitable distances, are provided with upstanding lugs 44 adapted to engage ties placed transversely of the skidway. lt will, of course, be understood that the lugs of one chain are transversely alined with the lugs ofthe other chain in order that the ties drawn along the skidway by the conveyer as a whole may be maintained in proper transverse position.

ln connection with the above skidway, l.' employ ahanging bracket or platform 12 including arms 45 provided at their upper ends with hooks 46 to engage over the upper edge of the car wall 15 between the hooks 33i of the skidway. A ioor or platform 47 is secured at its rear portion to the lower ends of these arms 45 and diagonal braces 48 connect the upper portions of the arms with the outer portion of the door 47. Mounted upon this iioor or platform is the engine 13 having the crankl shaft 49 which carries the usual dy wheel 50 and'in addition the pinion 51.' This pinion 5 1 meshes with a spur gear 52 fixed upon a shaft 53 journaled in suitable bearings carried by the platform rocket wheel wheel 54 and about a sprocket wheel 5 6 fixed upon the shaft 35.y Preferably, some f form of clutch mechanism,

not shown, is interposed either between the shaft 53 and its gear 52 or betwen such shaft and its sprocket wheel 54.

F rom the foregoing description, taken in connection with the drawings, the operation of my improved tie loading machine will be readily understood and no furtherexplanation is necessary. lt will be apparent, however, that various minor changes may be made, at any time, without in the slightest degree `departing from the spirit of'my invention as set forth in the appended cla and ll, therefore, reserve the right to make any changes which may v'seem advisable.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as new is:

1. A machine of the character described including a skidway having means at one end for engagement with the side of a car, a supporting bracket having means for supporting engagement with the side' of a car, an endless conveyer mounted upon the skidway, and means mounted upon the supporting member and operatively connected to the conveyer to-drive the latter.

.2. A'machine of the character described including a skidway having parallel spaced side members, hooks secured to the members at one end for engagement with the side of a car to 'hold the skidway at an inclination to the ground, an endless chain conlongitudinal channels, reinforcing 'strips' extending along the upper faces of the'side members'and havinginstruck portions seating in the channels, an rendless chain con-A veyer including vconveyer chains having their upper stretches seating inthe instruck portions of the reinforcing strips to lie Hush with the outer faces of such strips, conveyer lugs extending from the chains, and means for driving the conveyer.

4. A machine of the character described including a skidway adapted to rest at one end upon theground, hooks carried by the opposite end of the skidway for engagement with the upper edge of a car wall, an endless chain conveyer mechanism on the skidway including a drive shaft, a support having upwardly directed arms adapted to engage against the outer face of a car wall, hooks carried by the arms for engagement over the edge of the car wall, a prime mover fam) lll() iet mounted upon the support, and driving ried by the skidway, a,l source of power carmenns between the prime mover and drive ried by the platform, and operative connecshaft of the conveyer. tion between the source of power and con- 10 5. A machine of the character described veyer.

Y including a skidway and a supporting plat- In testimony whereof I aix my signature.

form adapted for independent detachable f application to a car, an endless conveyer carv WALTER A. FLOWERS. [11. s.] 

